A Touching Happenstance
by bitemebeezlebub
Summary: Sakura and Gaara get hit with a jutsu meant for assassinations that cause the two recipients to feel the other's pleaure
1. The Initial Meeting

Sand whipped across Sakura's face as she ducked to avoid a wayward shuriken, Naruto's she was sure. She hung back in the trees enclosed by sinuous vines surrounding the clearing that was being used as a battleground. Sakura circled around to the left, trying to find a place where she could help. Gods, but it was difficult to fight with Gaara; she could hardly see for the sand from his attacks. Sakura sought out a victim: one of Orochimaru's sound ninjas, leapt out, and pulled him back with her. She closed her eyes to concentrate, and used the strength she had acquired during her training with Tsunade. He did not get up again.

Sakura heard a noise and looked up quickly; Orochimaru had disappeared again and she didn't fancy meeting either him or Kabuto alone. Not that he thought of her as a major threat, but she was sure he wouldn't mind if he made a mistake, preferably fatal. One less kunoichi to deal with. She noticed that the sandstorm had died down, and guessed that Gaara had managed to kill Orochimaru's two huge snakes. It normally woufl not have taken him long at all, eben now that he was no longer possessed by Shukaku, but Kabuto had warned Orochimaru about Gaara's being imperious to most physical attacks, and so Orochimaru had used som kind of ninjutsu to alter Gaara's perception. Hence the unfocused waves of sand.

She searched for her missing kunai, gave up, and went into the clearing to find a disheveled Naruto, who was excitably discussing his part in the fight to an unimpressed-looking Sai. Gaara came up from behind a hillock and stood a distance behind them, watching dispassionately. As usual, there was not a scratch on him. His teammates came up too. Kankuro spoke briefly to Gaara, who relied without turning his head. Sakura waved at them, determined to keep friendly relations between Konoha and Suna. Sakura turned as she felt someone looking at her, and looked up to see Gaara standing across from her, then silently hold out her kunai to her.

"Oh." Sakura reached out to take it, and when she did, her fingers touched Gaara's briefly. At the same time, she felt a shock go through her, as she felt the unmistakable feeling of being hit with a jutsu. She spun around, knife in hand, to find the edge of a robe disappear in a flash of smoke. Damn. Sakura turned around to find Gaara still looking at her with an unreadable expression. Had he felt it too? Sakura wondered.

She turned to Kakashi, whose clothing and mask were looking rather dusty, and asked what that jutsu had looked like.

Kakashi peered at them through the settling sand.

"I think I know what this jutsu is, but we're going to have to check. Are you sure it hit _both_ you and Gaara?"

"Yes, I could tell it was from a professional, too." Sakura looked at Gaara, who nodded.

"Sakura, I need you to touch Gaara."

"What?"

"Just try it. It's the only way we can check if it's the jutsu I'm thinking of."

Sakura laid two of her fingers lightly against one of Gaara's crossed arms.

"So he can feel it."

Sakura lay one of her hands on Gaara and involuntarily gasped as she felt a rush of warmth at the exact same spot on her arm. Kakashi looked at her closely.

"You can feel that?"

"Y-yes!"

"Well, then I think I know what happened."

They waited.

"Kakashi! What happened!"

"I _believe_ that you and Gaara have been subjected to a binding jutsu attack. I've never seen it myself. It's a specialized jutsu that links the two recipients nerves. Basically, it allows you to feel some of the other person's pleasure when you touch."

"Why would anyone want to make a pleasure jutsu?" asked Naruto, who had snuck and was now listening intently.

"It was designed for assassinations," Kakashi continued, as if there had been no interruption. "If one of you dies, then the other will too. This was probably a test to see if the two of you would die on contact-"

And what makes you think that I would gain any pleasure from being _touched_ by Sakura?" asked Gaara, glaring at Kakashi. Sakura was tempted to say, "You just did!", but she didn't particularly feel like "Desert Coffin" were the last words she wanted to hear, so she kept silent.

Kakashi sighed and ran his fingers through his spiky gray hair.

"Look. I don't expect either of you to enjoy this, just try not to kill each other until we've sorted this out. And Gaara?"

"What?"

"You should stay at Sakura's until we've caught up with Orochimaru."

Sakura started, then asked, "How long will it last?"

"It can only be undone with the specific chakra of the person who cast the jutsu. So until we can find Orochimaru and steal some of his chakra. Gaara, why don't you and Sakura go and get some of your things. I'll some by later.

Gaara gave Kakashi a look that Sakura couldn't see, then turned to her.

"Come," he said to her, and Sakura was left to follow behind him. She was in slight denial that something like this had happened, but she was stronger now, and knew she could survive whatever Orochimaru had thrown at her.


	2. Just a little

The afternoon was spent in watching horror movies; Gaara seemed to take what she said about what friends do literally. Sakura regretted getting a slasher; at one point, she jumped and screamed with the victim, and Gaara gave her a look. Amused? Sakura thought. Annoyed? She couldn't tell. Gaara was so unreadable.

Sakura was not a night owl, unlike Ino, who considered it her civic duty to stay out all night partying. And just about now she felt sleepy. Then it struck her. One apartment. One bed. One very small bed. Gaara must have noticed her panic, because asked her what was wrong, in a bored voice.

"Nothing, I mean, are you-are you tired?"

"Yes."

Ah, Kami. Why her? "Well, I'll, uh, show you to the bed."

She felt extremely awkward with Gaara standing behind her; she could feel the ghost of his breath on her bare neck, and shivered.

"We are both going to stay in the same bed?"

"As I said, I've been meaning to get…yeah…"

Gaara seemed to ignore her went to the bathroom. He came back without wearing a shirt, and cast it aside, onto a pile of her clothes. He choose a side of the bed, the one closest to the wall. He turned away from her, dismissing her completely. Sakura looked at him for a moment, then went to the bathroom. She washed her face and looked up, studying her face.

Was she attractive? She had stopped putting a lot of thought into her appearance after a while of being on Team Eight; it just wasn't necessary. And it didn't matter now, either. Just because she had Gaara in her bed, with his clear, piercing eyes and his distinctly masculine scent that she imagined hung around him like an aura as she looked at him. _Was_ he sleeping? He must be, she decided. Otherwise he would have turned around and glared at her for looking at him for so long.

Sakura maneuvered her way under the covers, being very, very careful not to touch Gaara. She didn't know what he would be like if she woke him up. Though…Sakura snuck a glance over at Gaara. He _was_ asleep. And she _was_ curious about what had happened today, what with all the touching Gaara and stuff. What if it had worn off by now? She should probably test it…

Sakura reached out a trembling hand and stroked Gaara's forearm; sure enough, there was the sensation of being tenderly stroked in return. Well, there you go, question answered, she told herself. It still works. But she couldn't seem to tear herself away; his skin was so soft, unusual for a shinobi. Well, he rarely even has physical contact, she reminded herself. Of course it would be soft. Or course his warmth would feel like a balm to her. Of course the muscles of his chest would be hard and defined.

Sakura trailed her fingers down Gaara's tanned torso, feeling the answering move down her breast, and then without thinking, she flicked his nipple, and gasped aloud at the sensation. God, that had felt…She moved her hand down onto his hip, barely being able to stand the sensation of the touch moving steadily towards the apex of her legs. She circled Gaara's slender hips, a rather feminine trait, she noted. Her hand hovered his stomache, lightly caressing the trickle of hairs she found there. Better to stop here. He might wake up. Yes…Sakura turned away from him, lest she be tempted again. And the Gods knew, he was certainly tempting. She pulled a section of the covers up to her chest and closed her eyes.


	3. Testing, testing 1,2,3

Sakura was disturbed from her sleep by a soft object hitting her in the chest, and instantly twisted around, searching for the kunai she kept on her shelf near her bed. She opened her eyes to see an expressionless Gaara leaning over her.

"What-what was that?"

"You didn't look like you were getting up anytime soon. Come on, Kakashi's here." Gaara left in the direction of the kitchen.

Grumbling to herself, Sakura tucked the pillow back under her covers and got dressed quickly in her usual attire. She paused then, memories of what she had been doing last night to Gaara. What the _hell?_ No. She did not find Gaara attractive at all. And if she did, it didn't matter. What mattered now was removing the jutsu. She arrived in the kitchen to find Kakashi seated at one of her chairs, Ichi Ichi Paradise in hand. Gaara sat on a counter, looking foreboding as usual.

"Ah. Sakura." Kakashi put his book down and leaned gestured to the seat opposite him. Please, have a seat."

Sakura thought it rather odd to be offered a seat in her own home, but she sat down anyway and looked at Kakashi.

"Have you found them?"

Kakashi paused a moment, and then said, "No. Frankly, we have no idea where Orochimaru or any of his minions might be. However, the 5th Hokage would like to test some things, to see if this is a classic jutsu of this sort, or an offset."

Sakura felt a bit nervous. Just what might some of these tests be?

"Are you ready to come now?"

Sakura stared at Kakashi, thoughts spiraling, before realizing what he meant.

"Uh, yeah. We'll get the tests now."

At the door, Kakashi explained that he had vitally important things to do, which Sakura suspected involved sleeping and reading Ichi Ichi Paradise. She couldn't blame him, though. She and Gaara made an odd couple, that was for sure. He was taciturn and only a bit murderous; she was bubbly and excited, when she wasn't in the middle of a fight. Sakura was coming to the realization that she was annoyed that people, mainly her teammates, did not take her as seriously as she took herself. Just because she was optimistic and had a temper, they instantly classified her as a little girl. I wonder what Gaara thinks of me, she thought, looking up at him. No doubt he thought what everyone else did.

Gaara seemed to notice her looking at him, and glanced down at her.

"What?"

"Oh-nothing. I was just, you know. Thinking."

Silence. And then, "Thinking about what?"

"What everyone thought of me. I mean, normally I only go anywhere by myself or with Ino-Pig."

Gaara looked just the tiniest bit confused, then said, "You shouldn't care about what anyone else thinks. Everyone is too concerned with their selves to care about what you do."

Sakura was surprised. She had thought that Gaara's thoughts mainly consisted of "Kill, kill!" and didn't know what to say to this new philosophical side of him.

"Well, okay."

They walked in silence together, and Sakura found that she felt just a little bit better about the stares of the people going past. They reached their destination, and the 5th Hokage stepped out and greeted them.

"I am sorry to learn of your predicament." He said, speaking mainly to Gaara. "We will try our bests to resolve it as soon as possible. Now," He gestured for a scribe to come out and take notes on what he said. "We are going to try a few simple tests. Gaara, step out to where the steps end. Sakura, please come over here with me."

Sakura watched as Gaara retreated to the steps, and then at the 5th Hokage's direction, a bit further, until Sakura could barely see him.

"And now the test."

Before Sakura even knew what was happening, the 5th Hokage had taken a knife and slashed her arm right above her elbow. Taken by surprise, Sakura cried out.

"Now, now, it's just an experiment." The 5th Hokage called out for Gaara to come back and examined his arms. They were clear and unmarked.

"And did you feel anything? Any pain or pleasure?"

"I felt a knife cut my arm, yes."

"Well, that takes care of the pain part. Now for the pleasure." The 5th Hokage said cheerfully. He instructed Sakura to stand about 5 feet away from Gaara, and then lightly touched Gaara, who stiffened at the unwanted contact.

"And can you feel that, Sakura."

"No, not at all."

The 5th Hokage muttered to his scribe, and then smiled at Gaara and Sakura.

"Well, I regret to tell you this, but it seems you have the classic rendition of the jutsu. As I'm sure Kakashi told you, it can only be undone by the releasing of the caster's particular chakra. One last test, to be sure. Sakura, touch Gaara in a way he would find pleasurable."

Sakura blanched. How was she supposed to know what Gaara found pleasurable? Well, she had felt the effects of what she did last night, but Gaara had been asleep, and therefore without all his mental boundaries…She came to a decision. She circled around Gaara stood behind him.

"Sit down."

"Why?" He asked stubbornly.

"Just do it," Sakura said, exasperated. Gaara hesitated a moment longer, then sat on the ground, not looking comfortable at all. Sakura bit her lip, if her idea didn't work out, she would really feel quite foolish. But still, what kind of person didn't get pleasure out of a massage, especially a shinobi?

Sakura kneeled behind Gaara, placed her hands against his back, and felt nothing. Damn him, she would _make_ him feel pleasure. She worked her fingers against the tight muscles of his neck, using her palms on his shoulders and back. When she hit a particularly sensitive spot near the top of his spine, she thought she heard him groan softly, and felt a rush of hotness on the same spot on her back. Oh yes, he was enjoying this.

Sakura felt wonderful, she could feel the exact same things that she was doing to Gaara on her body, but she found that she was enjoying even more the little twitches and sighs she was getting out of him. She put a little more pressure on his shoulder blades and nearly cried out again. Gods, had no one ever done this to Gaara before? No wonder he liked it so much. All too soon, the 5th Hokage stepped in and said thank you to them both, that was enough.

Sakura reluctantly let her hands fall to her sides and watched Gaara stand up and start walking back to her house without a backwards glance. She couldn't help feeling that they had just shared something incredibly intimate, and that now he was rejecting it. She ran to catch up with him, and looked at his face. At first glance, he looked the same, but Sakura thought that perhaps there was a slight relaxation of the muscles in his face. Just a little, she thought. But still, a little is something.


	4. Going Out

So, eating out it is again, thought Sakura, as she gazed forlornly at her empty cupboard shelves. Might as well go to the ramen place Naruto loves so much. And besides, she did miss her teammate, his determination to become Hokage and protect his friends.

And isn't Gaara kind of like that? Sakura suddenly thought. She didn't know much about his personal life, but she knew that when he did care about someone enough, he did protect them. No, no, no, they are nothing alike. Gaara was a foil for Naruto, something that brought out Naruto's shine and provided him with some competition. Sakura wondered whether she would even be in this position is it weren't for Naruto. Oh well, she concluded. It doesn't matter. Things are as they are, and you can't change anything but the future.

Feeling very wise, Sakura went into the bedroom to tell Gaara where they were going to go for dinner, and then froze. His back turned to her, she had caught Gaara in the act of changing after his training session. She couldn't help but admire the fine tautness of his back, the strong back of his legs, and oh my, his very fine arse. _Well_, then. She squeaked and retreated back into the kitchen, and was silent by the time Gaara joined her.

"We're-we're going out to eat. Are you ready, or-"

"Yes." Gaara turned and went ahead of her, stopping on the steps, making her realize that he did not know the way.

"It's just this way…"

She was trying to convince herself that she felt nothing at seeing Gaara nearly stark naked, well, from behind, anyway. Inner Sakura, was cheering at the chance to see more of a body that promised to be delicious at the way around. She inwardly shushed herself, and sped up a bit to match Gaara's pace.

Sakura was getting used to the stares of 'what-the-hell-are-you-doing-with-a-murderer' as well as the jealous glares that she got whenever she went out with Gaara. To tell the truth, she was kind of sick of trying to convince people that she was not following Gaara around because she had a death wish, but also that she couldn't tell them the reason _why_ she did. And people tended to get pissed when they are left out of the loop of things. Sakura was aware of some of the rumors that were circling around the Konohagakure, and was trying not to care. Not a few of them thought that she was actually in a relationship with Gaara. At least her good friends weren't so easily taken in by…

"Oh, _hey_, strange meeting you here. And…Gaara. Hello."

Gaara inclined his head at Ino, and then turned his gaze out into the street, looking bored. Ino looked from him back to Sakura, then leaned in.

"Hey, Forehead, let's talk."

Ino bustled Sakura onto a bench, and ordered miso ramen for them both. Gaara sat a while away, sitting backwards on the bench and watching the people on the street.

"Okay, Forehead, let's have it straight. First off, are you sleeping with him?"

Sakura spat out her mouthful of ramen.

"And just where did you get that little idea, Ino-pig?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it could have something to do with the fact that you two are now living together?"

"That's out of necessity."

"Oh, do explain, Forehead."

And do Sakura explained as quietly as she could about the jutsu that had hit her and Gaara, and about the tests that 3rd Hokage had placed upon them. Ino looked mildly breathless.

"Okay, that explains that, but, what's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"_Touching_ him. Is his skin rough and calloused or smooth?"

"Uh, mostly smooth, I guess." Sakura said, trying not to let it show that she had spent quite a long time contemplating the exact texture of his skin after the first time she touched it.

"Well, that makes sense, seeing as he's likely to kill anyone who got near him…" Ino mused.

"Anyway, why do you care? He's Gaara, not Sasuke."

Ino looked surprised that Sakura had brought up the subject of Sasuke, but didn't venture into that topic.

"Sakura, he's like, the hottest Sand-nin ever. Hell, maybe the hottest in all of Konohagakure! I can't believe how lucky you are. I suggest you take advantage of it."

Ino stood up, saying she had promised that she would help out at the shop today, and gave Sakura an unclear and yet meaningful look that she was obviously supposed to understand, and left. That left Sakura and Gaara, sitting very far apart on the bench, her trying to not make it awkward, and him not caring.

Sakura eventually gesture-asked if he would like to leave, and Gaara nodded. She had noticed that, although he was very quiet, almost silent, he did communicate himself quite nicely through body language.

Body language. Unbidden, a mental image of Gaara, panting, his erection straining against his pants, pressing it against her, begging her silently to…

Whoa there, Sakura thought Where-where did those thoughts come from? Must be the talk with Ino. Sakura glanced at Gaara, who was paying her no mind, and was glad that he could not see her blush.


End file.
